Garden Opening Ceremony & Work Day 2023

Thank you to everyone who joined in the opening of the Temple garden on Saturday, April 22nd!  

There was a "Garden Opening Ceremony" to begin the garden growing season.  The ceremony included walking in procession around the garden chanting the "Disaster Preventing Dharani", ceremonially planting the first seeds, and chanting our "Garden Chant". We also read a Thich Nhat Hanh quote about being aware of what kinds of thoughts we "water" within ourselves - whether wholesome or unwholesome.

This was a big garden work day and many hands made light work!  The garden fence was repaired, peas and spinach planted, the garden tilled and beds shaped and the garden orchard trees were tended and many other getting the garden ready tasks!

Food from the Temple vegetable garden nourishes Temple programs, the sangha, Kenzan and local community food shelves.  May our garden work also be a time of practice.

The Shao Shan Garden chant:

May we grow healthy, fresh food for our Temple, our families, and our communities. 

May we offer our wholehearted attention to the plants, the land, the tools and each other.

Like Taihaku, may we enter the garden gates with wonder, enthusiasm, and gratitude.

Like Taihaku, may we cultivate here a deep caring that extends to all of the miraculous creation.

April 1/2 day Zazenkai

On a gloriously sunny day, dedicated practitioners braved muddy roads to support one another in a full morning of intensive practice.

The Zazenkai program included opening and closing ceremonies, zazen (sitting meditation), kinhin (walking meditation) and a Dharma reading (part of Keizan Zenji's "Zazen Yojinki"). 

Mindful Puppy - Children's Program

 For April's Children's Program, we opted to hold the program online due to the mud season roads. We began by sharing our names and signs of spring, including warmer days, intense winds, the return of the robins, orange and purple flowers popping up, and melting snow. We then read and acted out the book Being a Dog: A Tail of Mindfulness by Maria Gianferrari and Pete Oswald. In the book we learned how to practice being present like a dog, using all of our senses to take in the world around us, yowling when sad and yipping when happy, and playing exuberantly whether rain or shine. We then practiced training our attention like a little puppy, allowing it to play and wander in the present, and pulling it back gently to our breathing when it wandered too far away. We closed by listening to the big Temple bell and sharing a group 

OM.